Page 13 of Killer on the Homestead (Bent County Protectors #2)

Though Duncan was tempted to follow her, he didn’t. She’d looked…rattled, and he couldn’t say he loved seeing rattled on steady, sturdy Rosalie Young.

He liked everything else he’d seen. The blush in her cheeks, her blue eyes shaded toward violet, that catch in her breath.

Did he know what he was doing? Hell no. He wasn’t sure where to slot that kiss.

He’d never once dipped his toes in complicated waters, because since he’d been twelve years old, and a coach had taken his parents aside after a Little League game and told them he had a gift , his one true love and passion had been baseball.

Sure, there’d been women, but there hadn’t been relationships. He didn’t have the time or inclination for complications, even in the offseason.

He didn’t have to be in a relationship with Rosalie, or even know her all that well, to know there was no way to do casual in this world he found himself in.

So it was best that she’d run away.

But he looked around at his new life. Sans baseball—because just before this little interlude, he’d told Scott once more that he had no plans to attempt a comeback, take a coaching job, or anything remotely related to broadcasting.

He was terrified it would feel empty.

But he had his family now. His roots. His legacy. Things he’d let fall by the wayside for far too long.

So why should he balk at exploring something that might be deeper than a one-night stand in a hotel room?

When a knock sounded at the door, Duncan’s eyebrows raised. Was she back? Now that would be something.

But it was not Rosalie.

“Mom.” He glanced out at the yard. Would she have seen Rosalie rush out of here? Drive off? He didn’t know how he felt about that. There was something like an echo of old teenage embarrassment, except she didn’t say anything.

Which he was almost certain meant she hadn’t seen anything. Mom didn’t hesitate. She called him out. Always.

“Everything okay?” he asked, then shook his head. “Stupid question. Come on in.”

Mom stepped inside. “Your dad is out running himself ragged. I thought maybe you could ride out and help him. I tried, but he’s tired of me pecking at him. You two are excellent at sitting in silence.”

He almost managed a smile at that.

“You don’t have to go right away. He’ll figure I sent you if we don’t give him some alone time. But maybe in an hour or so you could hunt him down?”

He didn’t ask why she’d come down to his cabin to ask that, because he could see as she moved restlessly around the front room, eyeing the boxes with a mix of frustration and zeal, that she was looking for things to do, to manage. That was how Mom dealt with stress.

“Sure. I’ll track him down. Give him a run for his silent money,” he said, hoping to make her smile.

She did, but it was small.

Because he couldn’t joke or pester her out of this horrible reality they found themselves in. So maybe that was what he could do. Find answers.

“Rosalie wants to follow a theory about maybe this connecting to the missing cattle. I told her I could get a map of the ranch, and some more information about the times cattle have gone missing.”

Mom frowned. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll get you a map. I… Don’t tell your father, but I wrote down little details about the cows every time it happened. If I ever got him to go to the police, I thought it’d help. I’ll give the notes to Rosalie. Or you.”

“You’ve got enough on your plate. You get it to me, I can handle it.”

Mom glanced at the door, something Duncan couldn’t quite read in her expression. “You know, if you… You don’t have to always be here, Duncan. You don’t always have to be helping. Your father and I will muddle through.”

He couldn’t quite understand what she was trying to say, but he went for light and teasing. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“No, I just thought maybe you’d… Well, you don’t need to focus on only this case, honey. You’re home for good. You should…”

“I should what?”

“Settle in. Meet people. Connect.”

He heard every silent word in between the words his mother spoke. Grow up. Get married. Have kids .

“Mom. Someone was murdered in your front yard just last week.”

“Yes, and it’s awful and tragic. But isn’t that reminder enough? Life doesn’t promise us anything. Might as well find some good in the midst of all that bad.” She looked at the door again, considering. “Rosalie’s a sweet girl.”

Duncan snorted. Sweet? No, that was not what Rosalie was. But she was something. “What’s any of this got to do with Rosalie?”

She gave him a look then. “Come now, let’s not play dumb. You’ve got your eyes all over her.”

Duncan felt that old teenage embarrassment creep in, but he pushed it away. He wasn’t going to be a coward just because this woman was his mother. “She’s nice to look at.”

Mom smiled at that. “She’s nice, period. Had a rough go. She looks right back, you know.”

His mouth curved in spite of himself. “I know.”

She rolled her eyes, despairing of him and loving him in equal measures, as she always had. But her expression immediately sobered, her hands clasped and wringing the way they only did when she was really upset about something.

“I just… Something about that young man dying. What a waste. What a loss. Because there’s nothing else he can do now.

It’s just over. I know you felt like losing baseball was…

a death of sorts, and I’m not saying it isn’t, or you can’t grieve it.

I just don’t want you grieving it at the cost of life. Because you still have that.”

He was rendered speechless for a moment.

His mother wasn’t afraid to wade in and say anything.

Ever. But they didn’t really have heart-to-hearts very often.

He realized this really was stemming from poor Hunter’s murder.

Since it was, he tried to be honest with her, instead of doing what he wanted to do, which was fend her off.

“I’m not grieving it at the cost of anything, Mom.” That was the truth of it, even if he hadn’t really thought of it in those terms. “Maybe I was, but… I’m glad I came home, Mom. To help deal with this, but also because… It feels like life here.”

“And I suppose you’ll tell me Rosalie has nothing to do with that and I should butt out.”

He studied her, knowing he shouldn’t say it, but it’d get a smile out of her if he surprised her. “Maybe one of those things. I’ll let you pick which one.”

Rosalie got home late . She’d forgotten the pizza she’d promised to make up for last week. She was a mess. She’d be smart to go upstairs, take a long shower, and sleep.

She hunted for Audra instead. Found her in her little office, going over accounts, no doubt. Rosalie hesitated. She didn’t want to interrupt Audra, who was already overworked, but…

Audra looked up.

“You got a few minutes?” Rosalie asked reluctantly.

“A few.” Audra pursed her lips, studied Rosalie. “Have you eaten?”

“I’ll scrounge up something in a minute. I’ve just got to finish this up. Can you tell me about when you found the Kirk cows on our property? Let me record it?”

“Okay.” Audra leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes.

“It was back in December. In fact…” She trailed off, got up, and went over to her sturdy stack of filing cabinets.

She opened one, pulled out a little top spiral notebook.

She hummed to herself as she flipped through the pages.

“‘December fourteenth. I found three of Norman Kirk’s cattle in the east pasture. Returned by nightfall.’”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“We couldn’t figure out how they’d gotten over to my place.

I helped him and his foreman, and a couple of his hands, search fence line.

Tried to retrace their path. It didn’t make any sense, but poor Norman was distracted.

That was around the time Duncan was having his second surgery, and I know they were just worried sick about him refusing to let them come down to California. ”

Rosalie tried to remember it, but she didn’t really. She didn’t pay attention to the ranch, and as nice as the Kirks were, she hadn’t paid attention to them. She remembered the story Audra had brought home vaguely because she tended to file mysteries away.

But she hadn’t thought about how that affected anyone. Not the Kirks, who were already dealing with worry about their injured son. Not Audra and how much she had on her plate, not just at their ranch, but at the agricultural society, and with neighbors.

Not the neighbor who’d had his whole life upended by some tendons snapping.

She refused to feel sorry for a millionaire who’d achieved his dreams, except she couldn’t seem to help herself. What would it be like to devote your entire life to something that you always knew would end? Then it ended, not because of any choice you made, but because of bad luck?

“Rosalie. You aren’t paying any attention.”

Rosalie blinked back to where she was, what she should be thinking about. “Of course I am.” Besides, it didn’t matter if she’d been thinking of something else, because she was recording what Audra was saying. She could go over it in detail a million times.

“What’s up with you?” Audra demanded.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

Audra rolled her eyes. “The minute I mentioned Duncan, you went somewhere else.”

She could lie to her sister. It wouldn’t be the first time. She wanted to lie. She planned to lie, but when she opened her mouth the truth just sort of escaped. “Duncan…kissed me.”

Audra beamed at her, all smiles and excitement. “That’s fantastic.”

“Why the hell would it be fantastic?” Rosalie demanded. “He shouldn’t have done it, and I have no plans to repeat it.”

Audra’s expression fell. Then her eyebrows drew together and she leaned forward, and almost on a whisper, asked, “Was it bad?”

“Of course it wasn’t bad . My God. He’s handsome as a devil and knows it.” And apparently knew other things. Like how to make a kiss twist and linger. So that even hours later, steeped in work, and worry, and exhaustion, it still felt like her lips were someone else’s.

“Rosalie… There’s nothing wrong with…” Audra sighed heavily. “Duncan’s a nice guy from a nice family who seems to have an interest in you. You’ve got to stop pushing guys away just because…”

“Just because our father was a lying, cheating bastard?” Rosalie supplied for Audra. “Weirdly, that doesn’t endear me to the gender as a whole.”

“Dad was one guy,” Audra said, almost defensively. Because she still dreamed of wedding days and happily-ever-afters, even though she kept herself on this stupid ranch, working too hard, giving too much to everyone but herself.

Rosalie looked at her sister then, wondering if after all these years she could actually get Audra to understand.

It wasn’t just what Dad had done… “You never saw him the way I did.” Audra hadn’t worshipped their father.

She’d seen his shortcomings. Rosalie used to think Audra was just being mean, but she understood now.

“And I’m glad you have sense when it comes to that sort of thing, but I clearly don’t. ”

“Oh, honey.” Audra reached out and Rosalie sidestepped because she didn’t want Audra’s sympathy . “You don’t really think that, do you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want that stuff. Why don’t you go kiss Duncan?”

For a moment Audra was so still, so quiet. “Is that what you want?”

The thought of Duncan putting his hands on Audra made her want to crumble into dust. She hated the stab of jealousy, hated everything about this.

“There is nothing wrong with liking him,” Audra said gently, when Rosalie couldn’t manage a response.

“There is. And I don’t. He’s hot, sure, but so what? I’m a grown woman with a job to do. So that’s what I’m going to go do.” She moved to leave, but Audra blocked her way.

“We need to talk about Dad. And Mom, for that matter.”

They had been avoiding this conversation for three years. Rosalie didn’t know why Audra wanted to rehash it now, but Rosalie wasn’t about to do it. Certainly not because of Duncan Kirk, of all things. “I don’t have time, Audra.”

“You do. If you’re blaming yourself for thinking better of Dad than I did, then we need to have a talk. A real talk.”

Rosalie’s phone beeped. She had a text message. Even though Audra was scowling at her, Rosalie read it. Her heart rate picked up. “I’ve got to go.” She nudged Audra out of the way.

“Rosalie.”

“Duncan just texted me. The cops are at his parents’ house, seizing a gun. I have to go.”